December 12, 2017

cool stuff i like

Happy day merry elves! I ordered a gift for someone from Harney & Sons, and I got some samples thrown in with my order, including a packet of their Holiday tea blend. I tried it, and it was awesome. And then I realized that buried in my tea pantry was a whole TIN of their holiday tea that had just become lost under the mountain of Too Much Tea we have going on in our house. So I pulled it out and set it on the counter, so that it wouldn't be forgotten again. What's new - I'm still having a lot of woe about the Nigel Slater Christmas book. It's only available in the UK (and Canada!) with metric measurements for the recipes. A U.S. release date has not yet been announced. It's supposed to be WONDERFUL. But unless I want to laboriously translate a lot of metric recipes (I DO NOT), I have to be patient and wait for the U.S. version to be published. Too bad, so sad yeah? I've begun wrapping presents. I try to do a little as stuff comes in, so as not to be swallowed by wrapping at the end. Do you chip away at wrapping a little at a time? Or do you do a big push all in one go right before Christmas? If I want to sit and do nothing but watch holiday films and eat cookies, I have to wrap early.

Lots of Christmas coolness to check out HERE. Thanks to Jenny for putting all of this on my radar.

Cool Book of the Week: a friend wrote to me, and asked if I knew about the new Gregory Maguire book,'Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker'. NO, I replied, and took out my ordering finger and clicked. I've actually never read any of his books before. Not even 'Wicked', which I bloody OWN. But when I heard that he had put his dark-fairy-tales-for-adults-spin on the backstory of the Nutcracker story - from the viewpoint of Herr Drosselmeier, borrowing from the world of the Brothers Grimm and German fairy tale forests......this had 'read me Melissa' written all over it. Did you see how long that sentence was? I'm about two chapters in, and it's great. The reviews are all over the place, but I'm enjoying the weird vibe so far.

AND, harkening back to my BOLD CLAIM the other day that Christmas Is Mysterious....doesn't this book look mysterious? The Nutcracker is a very mysterious tale. Drosselmeier - what's his deal? Apparently I'm going to find out in this story.

P.S. If Amazon and World Market didn't exist....I wouldn't survive Christmas. I don't know how old fashioned people did it.~Melissa

Thanks for your post today. Things have been a bit gloomy around here - sick kids, weird work schedules, broken down wash-machines - the stuff of life. Your post was like a little break in the cloud cover where the sun shown in for just a minute.

Gurlllll. I'm in the gloom with you. I'm seriously wanting to hide from the holiday season. I'm having a weird reaction to my flu shot, and I'm in such crazy chicken mode I can't see straight! Sooooooo sorry about all the ick - if it makes you feel better, my washing machine is also one inch away from death! It completely made my day to hear that my post had lifted your spirits a bit. Hang tough sister - we will survive December!

Happy Holidays! I also picked up some of the Harney & Sons tea-one of the schools I work for had a book fair at Barnes & Noble-and I got a 2 for 1 deal. Haven't tried it yet, it's under the Christmas tree.

Our washing machine died a few weeks ago-is it some kind of epidemic?? Luckily we got a great deal on a new one-super happy about that. An expense we weren't expecting, but that machine was old, and we had nursed it through a few repairs.

I actually went shopping today, something I usually would never do-but I had forgotten to buy things for our stockings! I was ready for madness, but Target was surprisingly calm, and I walked right up to a register. I couldn't believe it! A bit of Christmas magic...

I hope you, your family and all your readers have a happy holiday season!

Target magic is the best kind of magic!!! So sorry about the appliance woes but hey now you get to enjoy new appliance! You'll have to tell me how you like your tea - I gave my aunt a gift set and she's loving it! Happy 3rd day of Christmas to you!!

Meet Melissa

I'm the creator of Julia's Bookbag and Julia's Book Boxes. Ask me about ordering the current book surprise box! Vintage, current, and unique book finds are my passion, along with treats, teas, and all things cozy.